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imombecky
YES! 
BIG ROCK! 
GIANT FOREST
Headed out from Three Rivers up up and further up the road to beautiful, green and a bit scary driving up edge of mountainous road. Made it to the National Park entrance and drove through Giant Forest to astounding trees that appeared to reach the skies but that was JUST the beginning.
Much to my astonishment, entering the Giant Forest was nothing compared to The Sherman Tree……soaring into the sky was this massive tree over 36 foot diameter at the base and 275 feet tall!!! Breathtaking to just stand and look up, up and up even more amazing with the sun glowing through the branches.
CUTIE? 
It’s time! 
Yes, I’m ready! 
WOW….Beautiful Black Swallowtail Crystalis…… butterfly in next post
Spring was amazing in my Butterfly Garden
This is my second year researching, planning, documenting/photographing and planting my Butterfly Garden. I’ve been soo busy in the garden and taking photos that I haven’t been here. I hope its time to catch up this summer on garden happenings.
RESEARCHING my ideas for garden was intense and so much fun. I visited plant nurseries, searched the internet and books. My Butterfly class seems so basic but I’ve learned details about butterflies that are helpful.
PLANNING my garden takes time and experimenting with planting seeds or buying plants. I discovered a blend of both works well in my garden.
DOCUMENTING/ PHOTOGRAPHING is such a delight! Capturing images of Butterflies, Plants, Caterpillars, Crystalis and Garden itself. This brings me such joy and peace.
PLANTING my garden full of different host, nectar, attractor plants has its ups and downs by trial and error but ultimately decide which butterflies you are trying to attract. Pick a plant and experiment with different ones. A blend of many different types brings more life to your garden.
My second year of Butterfly Gardening has exploded with colors and different species of butterflies daily. From Monarchs to Swallowtails to Sulfurs and Skippers and White Peacocks and more! Its fun and joyful to watch more and more species visit!
Ohh… the amazing caterpillars and crystalis in the photos above are from my backyard butterfly garden. I ended up purchasing a butterfly tent and kept them inside on fennel, parsley and dill plants.
My next post will show off my Black Swallowtail Butterflies. They are simply beautiful and tranquil flyers!!!
My Husband, Kyle and I took a road trip from the California coast to the Forest! This was quite an amazing trip.
We decided to break up the trip with overnight stay in Three Rivers just outside the forest. We arrived to this quaint house out in the woods to quail running wild and beautiful views of the mountains or Sequoia National Park.
Now, this is a very small town so almost everything closes early evening. We rushed to the small grocery store to get food supplies because the restaurant was closed when we arrived . We had a delicious dinner grilled in the great outdoors while listening to nature sounds.
Wild Turkey 
Beautiful Views
Wild Quail
Backyard with grill
Sunrise over Mountain
Waking up early to witness the sunrise over the mountains while watching the wild quail, turkeys and birds. Amazing! Beautiful! Stayed tuned for more on our trip to Sequoia National Park
Monarchs have such character and beauty. As I watch, I wonder about their ability to hang from the tiniest purple flower and sip nectar with their proboscis (or tongue) which extends into the flower and pulls out this delectable yellow sticky nectar.
I have become so filled with questions about these insects that I’ve decided to take a Butterfly Class. I will begin to share some information I have learned here on my blog. I’m not an expert yet but my passion is coming out!
I made a special trip to buy nectar plants to plant in my butterfly garden. As soon as I brought these long stemmed red pentas to my butterfly garden, the monarchs came, instantly landed and began sipping nectar.
Makes me wonder about their sensory abilities, I learned that their tarsi (or feet) give butterflies the ability to taste 200 times stronger sensation than humans.
And their tarsi have chemical receptors that allow the butterfly to feel the plant, leaf, or flower they land on before feeding or laying eggs!
As we went hiking among the Giant Sequoia Trees we were led deeper and deeper into the forest …… we were hiking with butterflies too! Yes, butterflies were with us especially in the sunny meadows within the forest.
Butterflies bring such joy and mystery to life. I mean why do they keep fluttering by us as we hike through the forest of Giant Sequoia trees……I do know this, they brought inspiration to keep hiking and enjoying our time in nature which is a mystery in itself.
Recent visitors to my backyard butterfly garden brings more than Monarchs!
Giant Swallowtail Caterpillar 
Orange-barred Sulphur Caterpillar 
Tersa Sphinx Moth Caterpillar
March has been madness as my title says…..The Monarchs have been loving my butterfly garden….my butterfly houses are full of Monarch Caterpillars who have been born and flew away…. many stay around and tease each other. How fun to watch them chase each other and play in the garden. Even chase Bees and other Butterflies. One day a Monarch was lying on the ground with a hurt wing….well I fixed his wing with a bandaid and he’s flying again.
Wings visible 
Monarch just emerged 
Monarch opening wings